Strong quake hits Hokkaido

TOKYO: A strong earthquake on Friday jolted the same area of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido that was hit by one of the country’s most powerful tremors last month.

The quake, which struck at 8.58am (2358 GMT Thursday), had a preliminary magnitude of 5.3, and measured a ‘weak 5’ on Japan’s quake intensity scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the strongest, Japanese broadcaster NHK said.

There was no danger of a tsunami from the quake, it said.

The US Geological Survey said the quake, which it measured at 5.2 magnitude, was 42km (26 miles) deep and centred on Hokkaido’s southern coast.

A magnitude 6.7 quake on Sept 6 paralysed Hokkaido, an island the size of Austria, killing dozens, triggering landslides and temporarily knocking power to all 5.3 million of its residents.